Bloomberg Introduces Obama at Cooper-Union Today

Photograph of Bloomberg introducing Obama at the Cooper Union this morning by Alex Brandon/AP

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama will be speaking in NYC today, as part of Cooper Union Dialogue Series. And Mayor Bloomberg's office "took the highly unusual step" of issuing a release letting the media know Bloomberg would be introducing Obama. Aw, that's what any billionaire mayor would do for his breakfast buddy!

Though Bloomberg hasn't decided on supporting a presidential candidate yet, he did say, when announcing he would not run for president, he'd support a candidate who "takes an independent, nonpartisan approach." And one of his aides did float the idea of an Obama-Bloomberg ticket.

Obama's speech is expected to be about the economy. And the odds are high that another man from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, who gave a speech at Cooper Union on Feburary 27, 1860, will be mentioned.

If you're going to the speech, let us know how it was. And if you take pictures, send them to photos(at)gothamist(dot)com or tag them "gothamist" on Flickr.

Update: The Daily Politics' Elizabeth Benjamin reports that Bloomberg gave Obama a warm welcome, but didn't endorse him, "I have not endorsed a candidate for president, but have been very clear in my hope that all the candidates will explain in detail how they will address the great challenges in our country. And I hope they will all come here to this great hall to do it." Bloomberg added that not everyone will agree with Obama, "This is New York, after all."

Obama, though, loves Bloomberg:

"At a time when Washington is divided in old ideological battles, he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions.

Not only has he been a remarkable leader for New York –he has established himself as a major voice in our national debate on issues like renewing our economy, educating our children, and seeking energy independence.

Mr. Mayor, I share your determination to bring this country together to finally make progress for the American people."

Obama also said the U.S. is definitely in a recession, due to the subprime mortgage crisis and the war. He said McCain's economic plan "amounts to little more than watching this crisis happen." Obama presented six principles to help reform and "establish a 21st century regulatory system":

First, if you can borrow from the government, you should be subject to government oversight and supervision. (So, if the Fed steps in and gives a loan to an institution, a la JP Morgan-Bear Stearns, then the Fed should be make liquidity and capital requirements.)
Second, there needs to be general reform of the requirements to which all regulated financial institutions are subjected.
Third, we need to streamline a framework of overlapping and competing regulatory agencies. (There are some cases where institutions don't fit into the existing framework, and therefore, aren't regulated.)
Fourth, we need to regulate institutions for what they do, not what they are.
Fifth, we must remain vigilant and crack down on trading activity that crosses the line to market manipulation. (A reference to traders who spread rumors about Bear Stearns to hedge bets against them.)
Sixth, we need a process that identifies systemic risks to the financial system. (Obama suggests creating a "financial market oversight commission" that would meet with the President, Congress, and regulators regularly.)

Here's the advance text of his speech.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on March 27, 2008 11:42 AM

Comments [rss]

AvenueHebrew

Ehhh... That's reading an awful lot into it, blabla.

But hey, you just keep reaching for that brass ring of justification for your irrational distrust of black people.

blablanyc

This is the first piece of evidence of Obama being a puppet of the wealthy. Bloomberg is smarter, more knowledgeable and has many powerful connections than Obama. Bloomberg can control Obama very easily because Obama hungers to become president. Obama has sold his soul.

jsri

MSNBC today had similar numbers to what avenuehebrew said: about 28% of Hillary supporters voting for McCain over Obama, 19% of Obama supporters voting for McCain over Hillary. Those are current numbers. They probably will go up as this goes on, but probably will go down once the Democratic nominee can go one on one against McCain.

As for llama: have a good trip to New Zealand. Bye.

starrygordon

Handouts and bailouts: There does not seem to be much difference between the candidates -- print money so as to offset the deflation which is occurring as a long-run effect of previous money-printing. As the Mayor said, it's like giving a drink to an alcoholic. However, some sort of symbolic program is politically necessary in an election year. The underlying problems will almost certainly remain unmentioned and unaddressed.

On the whole, the economic crisis will probably benefit McCain, because it will district people from the general disaster of U.S. policy and action in the Middle East. Maybe. We can have more than one disaster at a time, I suppose.

babyhitler

avenuehebrew; Those were poll numbers from months ago. The new CNN poll has the new numbers and they will just get larger with all this infighting.

Politburo

I'll say it again.. there's a long time between now and November, a lot of time to highlight the stark differences between McCain and whoever the Dem nominee is. The number of crossovers will be much lower than the current polls indicate.

llama

he looks like a freakin chimp. its almost kinda cute. but i still hate him for president. but i want to pinch his chimpy little cheeks.

AvenueHebrew

Babyhitler, the statistics I saw read that 30% of Hillary supporters would go to McCain in the event of Obama's nomination, while 19% of Obama's would do so if Clinton gets the nom. Where'd you get your numbers?

Also, what is up with Clintonistas being so dang angry about Barack. The shit I hear leveled against him is just friggin' mean. I'm not saying Obama's followers aren't just as capable of talking smack, but to listen to Hill-backers you'd think he'd burned their village and murdered all the children.

llama, please tell me you're not referring to Obama. Because I don't even know how it is even possible to say that kind of shit in this day and age. Like it's 1958 in here or something.

llama

If that chimp becomes president I am moving to New Zealand.

babyhitler

who really cares about Obama anymore? the democratic party is done for. New polls indicate that 41% of all Obama supporters would vote for McCain if Hilary wins the nomination and 55% of all Hilary supporters would vote for McCain if Obama wins the nomination? Democratic party, can you say fucked? Thanx oprah!

EastRiver

The banks can and did measure the risk.

I really disagree. There is simply no way to measure the risk if you have no idea what your trading partners are up to - until they implode. There are so many derivative instruments out there that nobody has a real clue who holds what risks.

likesrudylikesbooty

"This starts with providing a stimulus that will reach the most vulnerable Americans, including immediate relief to areas hardest hit by the housing crisis, and a significant extension of unemployment insurance for those who are out of work," Obama said in a wide-ranging speech in New York.

The package would be worth $30 billion, aides said.

Now, I'm all for helping out those that are truly in dire straits. But you know pretty well the more crafty folks will front run the lesser fortunate just to get their piece. The ones that know how to work the system will certainly use it to their advantage.

What are your thoughts on handouts and bailouts?

Politburo

"If the banks can't accurately measure systemic risk until it's too late what prayer does a government regulator have of doing anything about it?"

The banks can and did measure the risk. They just brushed it off, and most everyone went along. Check out this statement from Bear: "Additional leverage brings with it additional risk, however we feel the form of leverage we are utilising will complement our current strategy."

Dude69

More of his fluff again. I doubt anything concrete will come out of his "six principles" if he's elected, but I certainly will be selling all my stocks. I hope bloomberg stays neutral, since he doesn't want piss Hillary off when she's Senator again.

EastRiver

Sixth, we need a process that identifies systemic risks to the financial system.

If the banks can't accurately measure systemic risk until it's too late what prayer does a government regulator have of doing anything about it?

EastRiver

Obama-Bloomber is a losing ticket. You don't pair a midwestern liberal with a northeast liberal.

Not that it will happen anyway but I have to say, Why Not? It isn't like Obama is going to win the Deep South anyway except for the slimmest of possibilities that he could take a heavily African American state. But why bother? All the Democrats need is Ohio to flip the electoral math in their favor. It's not like either Clinton or Obama is going to lose New England, New York, California, etc. Maybe Bloomberg wouldn't help much in Ohio but short of picking the Governor of Ohio I don't know exactly who would help.

matty

A bloomberg backing is extremely important. New Yorkers voted for Hillary cause they know who she is (same with Obama and Illinois). This will help Obama secure much needed "big state" votes should he get the nomination.

MisterTissue

I know, right? This photo makes it look like Obama might just have EATEN Bloomberg following the introduction. I don't care about an Obama/Bloomberg ticket...I wanna see Obama v. Bloomberg in one-on-one basketball.

jsri

That's a great photo. I know Bloomberg is short, but the angle of the shot makes him look like a hobbit next to Obama, who must be 9 feet tall.

Politburo

Bloomberg won't go for VP, no doubt.

"Obama-Bloomber is a losing ticket. You don't pair a midwestern liberal with a northeast liberal. You just end up losing the rest of the country. The Republicans will love it."

Eh, this is the kind of 'concerned' thinking that put the Dems in the backseat for many years. Instead of analyzing how you think everyone else will react, I say if it's the right ticket, just goddamn do it. After all a similar argument could have been made 8 years ago: "Bush-Cheney is a losing ticket. You don't pair a Texan neocon with a Texan neocon..." And we all know how that turned out.